Small
by Alphonse Elric is a Cat Lover
Summary: Winry's dead, Al's hasn't shown up for six years. Edward Elric is left with two young children in his care and he's at a lost at what to do. He thinks he's all alone, but he doesn't realized the kind of family he had created for himself over the years. People care about him more then he thinks and they want him to realize he is not alone. AU, T for mild cursing in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1 Single Father

Chapter 1 Single Father

It's been two years since Winry had died. I haven't seen Alphonse in six. The last I heard, he had gotten married to that Chinese girl named May Chang from high school.

After the spring virus had taken the love of my life, the same virus my mother had died from when I was young, I was left with 2 children I couldn't handle alone in my broken state. We lived in a small apartment outside of the city, near a train station and lots of fields.

It was the only thing we could afford during college. I work a steady full-time job at Mustang's Car Repair Shop, though I haven't gotten a promotion in years. Winry had a job at a small café near central town. The pay wasn't the best and it took us everything we had to make ends meet, but the enthusiasm and spirit my wife had put into it had made all the blood and sweat worth it.

She left me with a son and daughter. The third had died in a miscarriage. His name was Simon.

Our first son, who was the oldest of the 3, was only the tender age of 5 when their mother had died. I can tell he still misses her, even after 2 years. Our daughter was 2, and now at age 4, I'm glad that she doesn't remember Winry as well as her brother, since she was so young. I can't deal with the pain of both of my children growing up with a memory of the loss of their mom. But I knew, somewhere deep in the back of my head, that the question would come up somewhat in their later years.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, slightly burnt bacon, and cold toast with cheap jam. I was frustrated at myself for not being as good of a cook as Winry, her food always was the best, but he couldn't really complain. After all, I was living out on the streets for half of my teen years. Anything was better than nothing I guess. Louisa, our 4 year old daughter, woke up earlier then her brother and I. Inherited from Winry. But what saddened me the most was that was not the only thing she got from her mom. The same blue eyes, light blond hair, her enthusiastic, positive personality. It scared me more then I had hoped over the past couple years.

She sat at our small dining table, gulping down a glass of orange juice I had poured for her earlier. I went to refill her glass, when Liam, our 7 year old son, dragged himself through the doorway with what seemed like a lot of effort. He was not a morning person, as nether am I.

Golden blond hair, golden eyes. Liam's got my looks, or at least when I was his age. He's a little too naïve for his own good, but otherwise remains cold and stoic, always wandering around with an emotionless expression on his face. His personality is different from mine, when I was a boy. I was always a hotheaded and impulsive brat, my little brother always being the friendly, angelic one. Liam is more mature then I was, but he isn't as sophisticated. He's different than any of the members from our family. Winry's family was a friendly, welcoming one. It's been like that for as long as I can remember.

I smiled as I watched my kids chugged down there breakfast in such I hurry, I had to warn them repeatedly to slow down. Life had changed since Winry had died, but it wasn't any worse. I'm sure, if she was here now, she would be proud of me for pulling it together for the sake of our kids. After all, I'm all they have left in the world.


	2. Chapter 2 Feeling Alone

Thank you to the one reviewer who decided to read my story; it makes me feel happy that someone actually liked it. Please, everyone who reads this story, review. I don't care if it's critical or not, I just want people to acknowledge my work. Thank you!

Chapter 2 Feeling Alone

"_Somewhere over the fields, somewhere deep in the valley…"_

_Edward could feel himself drift away into the soothing sound of that beautiful, feminine voice. He could feel his life mean nothing, compared to this moment, right now. Edward imagine what the owner of the voice looked like, but he knew she was probably beyond anything his mind would ever picture. The female turned around, sending a radiant smile his way. His body could have melted, if he wasn't so hard, but she made his cold heart soften considerably. Shiny pale blond hair, caring blue eyes, soft light pink skin…She was a goddess. If only I wasn't so shy and disliked, he murmured under his breath. The girl seemed to catch that though, and stepped forward to wrap her arms around his tall scrawny figure. "You're not disliked," She murmured gently, and Edward felt his shoulders lose its tension. "Cause I like you…" The golden blond teenager coughed nervously, his cheeks turning a dark red. "You do?" Edward asked with uneasiness, awkwardly returning the hug. "Uh-huh," She confirmed, in a restful whisper. The girl pulled away, and without hesitation, planted a light kiss on his shaky lips. Edward gave in, kissing her back in a more forceful manor. "Oh, god…" Edward moaned, when he finally got air into his lungs. If only that could last forever… _

"Ed!" A loud yell caused him to jump out of his daydreams, clumsily falling forward in the process. He remembered sitting down and relaxing against the wall, but everything else was a blur.

"Edward Elric, how many times have I told you stay focused?!" His boss, Roy Mustang, roared in his ear. "You have a job to do!" Roy Mustang is a tall, stoic and sarcastic 29 year old man with black hair and incisive dark eyes. His tall, slender 5 ft 9 body constantly made life worse for Edward, who was only a scrawny 26 year old with a height of 5 ft 5 (At least Winry was 5 ft 3), especially when the bastard had to kept flaunting his height every single fucking day.

Roy simply couldn't help himself, especially since he knew there was so much to mock about of his young short-tempered employee, but the raven-haired man knew he couldn't question Edward's utter dedication and hard work to his job, even after his wife had died so recently, leaving behind 2 children for the 26 year old single father to manage all on his own. If only he wasn't so closed off…

"Sorry," Edward muttered lowly, his bangs covering his eyes. Roy sighed. He never understands why Ed was like that; always acting like his boss wasn't trustworthy, that he didn't care about him. Edward just wasn't the type of person to understand how much people love and worried about him. He acted like he was all alone.

"It's okay," Roy assured, pushing aside his feelings, giving the young man a small smile. "Just get back to work, alright?" He ruffled Ed's hair, before returning back to his office.

Edward inwardly sighed as he threw his aching body on the bed. 8 hours of working really does get to you, he reminisced. Every day was like that, after 8 hours of working always made his body sore and unable to move . He was hoping that one of the days, he would be noticed for his hard work, and finally gets a promotion. Edward wanted to be able to support and care for his kids, the way he wanted to, the way his wife wanted to.

They were barely able to live exceptionally before, but now that Edward was by himself and took on the job of taking care of kids and working a full-time job for minimum wage…Well, life wouldn't be very easy. But he put 100% effort into it, hoping for the best. If only Al would-

Edward shook his head. No.

_No_, there was absolutely no way he would ask his brother for help. He probably wouldn't want to see him anyway. Alphonse has his own life now, with his own wife and kids (he assumes he has a family), why would he want to bother with his pathetic excuse for an older brother?  
Edward sighed again. What should he do? Nothing. All he could do was keep doing what he does. Hope and Try. Which was stupid and weak and futile…But what else could he possibly do? Nothing was going to get any better if he waits for a miracle…But that doesn't mean he couldn't hope for one. Nobody cares about him, though, he was all alone and had no one trust, maybe except his brother and wife, but they weren't around to help and cheer him on anymore. No one was. All he had was himself. That thought put him close to tears, he wished it wasn't true, but he knew deep down in his heart, it was.

The doorbell rang, waking the young father out of his miserable trance. Edward struggled to lift himself out of bed and drag himself to the front door. Running a hand through his tangled matted hair, he threw open the door in irritation. _"What?" _Edward growled.

He didn't expect a 20 year old brunette to throw himself on top of him, toppling the two to the floor. "What the hell?" Edward cried, the pain of being under the weight of another human being clashing against his aching muscles. Golden eyes met watery green ones, Edward watching in a frightened, astonished trance as the stranger on top of him put great effort in trying to stop the flowing of tears from streaming down his face, but to no avail.

"No way…"Edward whispered, trying to take in as much of this as he could. The other man hugged tightly on around the shoulders, but Edward didn't seem to notice how awkward it was for them to be hugging in such awkward time like this. The golden blond sat up, the brunette on top of him still holding onto Edward for dear life, but the single father could only wrap his arms around the younger man, tears streaming down his face too.

Edward patted him reassuring on the back, their strong arms holding a protective, unyielding grasp on each other. "Al, it's been so long," Edward murmured into his brother's hair. In between cries, the brunette gasped out in response, "b-brother! I missed you so much!"

Edward couldn't believe something so wonderful was happening right now! He had reunited with his brother, whom he hasn't seen in six years!

Hope you enjoyed it~ Please review if you have any questions or comments~

Preview for next chapter:

Edward couldn't believe something so horrible was happening right now. He couldn't believe that his little brother could do something so terrible like this to him.


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